Scottish Executive

Adoption

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many approved parents are currently awaiting an adoption placement in each local authority area.

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children are currently awaiting adoption in each local authority area.

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average time taken to complete an adoption placement was in each local authority area in the last year for which figures are available.

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of adoption placements were terminated within the first year with the child returning to temporary foster care in each local authority area in the last year for which figures are available.

Euan Robson: This information is not held centrally.

Adoption

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive steps are being taken to reduce administrative delays in the adoption system.

Euan Robson: The first phase of the Executive’s adoption policy review published its report in June 2002 and made a number of recommendations aimed at reducing delay and drift within agencies. These include improving information sharing between agencies, making plans for permanence as soon as a child is looked after away from home and having one panel in an agency to consider all decisions on permanence.

  The Executive is currently working with colleagues in local authorities and the voluntary sector to consider how best to take forward these recommendations. A contract is being let to the British Association for Adoption and Fostering to undertake a scoping exercise on how to improve information sharing and matching of children and families in Scotland.

  Phase II of the adoption policy review is currently under way and is considering the legal framework for adoption and fostering. Among the issues that are being considered are ways in which the legal processes can be speeded up where that would be appropriate.

Adoption

Alex Fergusson (Galloway and Upper Nithsdale) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many adoption placements have been completed in each of the last five years in each local authority area.

Euan Robson: Figures on adoption placements are not available centrally. The following below gives the number of applications made to court for adoption orders in each of the last five years in each local authority area.

  


Council

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002



Aberdeen City

28

24

26

16

15



Aberdeenshire

35

30

32

20

19



Angus

10

6

3

8

7



Argyll and Bute

8

5

3

10

7



Clackmannanshire

4

7

4

7

4



Dumfries and Galloway

16

11

16

11

12



Dundee City

9

14

15

12

11



East Ayrshire

13

8

9

13

8



East Dunbartonshire

7

7

8

9

6



East Lothian

15

11

9

7

4



East Renfrewshire

7

6

8

7

7



Edinburgh, City of

28

34

24

22

14



Eilean Siar

3

5

1

3

4



Falkirk

14

8

4

6

11



Fife

33

51

32

34

34



Glasgow City

38

36

40

47

30



Highland

18

21

15

16

19



Inverclyde

3

5

5

4

6



Midlothian

6

8

5

5

3



Moray

19

15

15

5

9



North Ayrshire

15

9

10

16

9



North Lanarkshire

20

30

19

24

18



Orkney Islands

2

1

0

1

0



Perth and Kinross

18

14

20

9

16



Renfrewshire

13

12

15

14

15



Scottish Borders

18

11

17

23

14



Shetland Islands

5

1

6

0

3



South Ayrshire

11

7

7

11

7



South Lanarkshire

19

27

17

22

17



Stirling

9

2

8

5

14



West Dunbartonshire

6

6

6

8

5



West Lothian

27

20

6

23

12



Total

476

452

405

418

360

Animal Welfare

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to the supplementary questions to question S2O-862 by Cathy Jamieson on 27 November 2003, what the timetable is for the proposed future bill on animal welfare and whether any such proposed legislation will affect the transportation of young companion animals.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive plan to introduce an Animal Health and Welfare Bill to the Parliament during Session 2004-05. It is not currently intended to legislate on the transportation of young companion animals in this bill as new regulations on the transportation of animals are currently being considered by the European Council. The Scottish Executive is in the UK negotiating team in Brussels and we hope to secure a prohibition on the commercial movement of puppies and kittens younger than eight weeks unless accompanied by their mother.

Asylum Seekers

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made with regard to Her Majesty’s Government’s draft Asylum and Immigration Bill laying out the rights of appeal of asylum seekers, in respect of any impact it may have on its responsibilities.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the UK Government on a wide range of issues, including the implications for devolved matters in Scotland of its legislative programme. This contact reflects the approach, set out in Devolution Guidance Note 1 in accordance with the principles set out in the Memorandum of Understanding, that the administrations normally consult each other from an early stage on the development of relevant legislative proposals.

Bridges

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the revenue income projections are for the (a) Erskine and (b) Skye Bridge in each of the next three years.

Nicol Stephen: Projections of the revenue income from the Erskine Bridge are £5.2 million this year and in the following two years to 2005-06.

  For the Skye Bridge, income is dependent on traffic levels at the bridge. We do not make projections or estimates of future traffic levels on the Skye Bridge.

British-Irish Council

Mr Alasdair Morrison (Western Isles) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will report on the outcome of the British-Irish Council summit held at the Museum of Welsh Life, Cardiff, on 28 November 2003.

Mr Jim Wallace: On 28 November, Wales hosted the fifth British-Irish Council summit meeting at the Museum of Welsh Life, Cardiff, attended by the Deputy First Minister and Peter Peacock, minister with responsibility for Gaelic. The main role of the council is "to promote the harmonious and mutually beneficial development of the totality of relationships among the peoples of these islands".

  The main focus of the summit meeting was indigenous, minority and lesser-used languages on which the Welsh Assembly government takes the lead in the council.

  The meeting highlighted the wide variety of policies, projects and initiatives supporting these languages within the various BIC administrations. The considerable commonality of goals and existing areas of collaboration between BIC members in this policy area were noted. While acknowledging that much of the work in terms of supporting and promoting indigenous, minority and lesser-used languages is specific to the circumstances of each BIC member administration, the council agreed on a number of areas where enhanced co-operation at governmental level would be beneficial. These areas include research into intergenerational language transmission; the potential for using ICT developments in facilitating and raising the visibility of indigenous, minority and lesser-used languages; and the potential for co-operating on the development of language use surveys.

  The summit itself enabled council members to exchange views on these important issues. The Scottish delegation fully supported the proposals for enhanced governmental co-operation in the field of indigenous, minority and lesser-used languages and drew attention to the work being undertaken to secure the status of the Gaelic language in Scotland and the commitment given in the Executive’s Partnership Agreement for a Better Scotland to introduce a national language strategy to guide the development of all of Scotland’s languages.

  As with previous summits, the meeting also received progress reports and agreed a plan for future work on the other subjects being taken forward by council members – in this case on co-operation on drugs, environment, health - the application of telemedicine, the knowledge economy, social inclusion (led by the Scottish Executive), tourism, and transport.

  I am placing a copy of the Communiqué issued by the British-Irish Council after the summit meeting in Wales in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 30172).

Care of Elderly People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many clinical psychologists who specialise in the care of elderly people there were in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: The following tables show whole time equivalent (WTE) and headcount of clinical psychologists with a target client age group covering older adults (age >65 years) by NHS board area for 2001 and 2002. The WTE figures adjust the headcount figures to take account of part time staff.

  Information for earlier years is not available centrally.

  Clinical Psychologists (WTE) Employed in Psychology Services for Clients/Patients Aged 65 and Over in NHS Scotland in 2001 and 2002, by Health Board Area.

  

 Health Board
 Clinical Psychologists 
  (WTE)
as at 30 September 2001
 Clinical Psychologists 
  (WTE)
as at 30 September 2002


 Argyll and Clyde
 0.6
 0.8


 Ayrshire and Arran
 0.8
 0.8


 Borders
 0.0
 0.0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 0.9
 0.9


 Fife
 2.1
 2.5


 Forth Valley
 0.0
 0.0


 Grampian
 1.0
 0.0


 Greater Glasgow
 2.5
 4.5


 Highland
 0.0
 0.0


 Lanarkshire
 0.3
 1.3


 Lothian
 3.1
 2.7


 Orkney
 0.0
 0.0


 Shetland
 0.0
 0.0


 Tayside
 1.0
 1.0


 Western Isles
 0.0
 0.0


 Scotland Total
 12.3
 14.5



  Clinical Psychologists (Headcount) Employed in Psychology Services for Clients/Patients Aged 65 and Over in NHS Scotland in 2001 and 2002, by Health Board Area.

  

 Health Board
 Clinical Psychologists 
  (Headcount)
as at 30 September 2001
 Clinical Psychologists 
  (Headcount)
as at 30 September 2002


 Argyll and Clyde
 2
 2


 Ayrshire and Arran
 1
 1


 Borders
 0
 0


 Dumfries and Galloway
 1
 1


 Fife
 4
 5


 Forth Valley
 0
 0


 Grampian
 1
 0


 Greater Glasgow
 3
 6


 Highland
 0
 0


 Lanarkshire
 1
 2


 Lothian
 4
 3


 Orkney
 0
 0


 Shetland
 0
 0


 Tayside
 1
 1


 Western Isles
 0
 0


 Scotland Total
 18
 21



  Source: ISD/NES (NHS Education Scotland) Psychology Workforce Project.

Care of Elderly People

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many pharmacists who specialise in the care of elderly people there were in each year since 1999, broken down by NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not centrally available.

  Information on numbers of NHS pharmacists employed at 30 September each year is published on the web pages of the Information and Statistics Division of NHSScotland, in section A of "Workforce Statistics" at the following address:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/workforce

  The tables on these pages identify numbers of pharmacists employed by individual NHS trusts as well as by NHS board areas. However, they do not separately identify numbers of pharmacists who specialise in the care of elderly people.

Crown Estate

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent progress has been made in the transfer of the regulatory powers of the Crown Estate Commission in Scotland to the Executive.

Ms Margaret Curran: No regulatory powers are being transferred from the Crown Estate to the Scottish Executive.

Education

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what arrangements are being made to supply parents, pupils, policy makers and others with a wide range of information about school education performance and what the format of such information might be.

Peter Peacock: Schools will continue to publish handbooks providing parents with paper copies of information including examination results. However, arrangements are now in place to significantly extend parental access to information with a comprehensive new website service and a new telephone hotline. The web service, which I will be launching next week, will allow parents to access a range of relevant information on a school by school basis. Parents will be able to access the website from home or work or from public libraries or community ICT facilities. Parents who prefer a hard copy of the material on the website will be able to ring a telephone number to request paper copies.

  The website allows information on all schools to be accessed and users can make comparisons with figures for two previous years. Information on each school is shown in a standard format, so comparing information between schools is straightforward. Policy makers, researchers and educationists may require information in different formats and we will handle requests for this in the usual way.

  The National Priorities in Education Performance Report 2003, a comprehensive description of performance across Scotland on all five priorities, will be published around the same time.

  Copies of the National Priorities in Education Performance Report will be placed in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 30161).

Electricity Suppliers

Donald Gorrie (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will meet electricity and other utilities companies to discuss the impact of the level of disconnections in 2003.

Mrs Mary Mulligan: Yes, the Executive is meeting energy companies to discuss a range of issues including high electricity prices for Scottish customers and disconnections.

Energy

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what sites are being considered for the construction of nuclear plants.

Lewis Macdonald: We will not support the further development of nuclear power stations while waste management issues remain unresolved.

Enterprise

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made in meeting its commitment to establish a co-operative development agency.

Lewis Macdonald: Officials have been meeting informally with a wide range of key stakeholders to discuss the aims, objectives and structure of a Scottish Co-operative Development Agency. A consultation document is currently being prepared and will be issued early in 2004.

Fisheries

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the fishing vessel decommissioning fund has been paid directly to banks and what proportion this represents of allocations from the fund.

Ross Finnie: All decommissioning grants are paid directly into the bank accounts nominated by scheme applicants. The owners of 50 of the 67 vessels currently covered by the decommissioning scheme have assigned their grants to secured lenders or mortgagees. However, we do not know what proportion of any individual’s grant is actually required to repay loans or other credit facilities that have been secured by using their vessel as collateral. That is a private matter between the applicant and their secured lender or mortgagee. The total grant covered by the 50 applications is £23.7 million.

Further and Higher Education

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of its total expenditure has been allocated to (a) higher and (b) further education in each year since 1999 and what this figure represents in (a) cash terms and (b) as a percentage of expenditure on education as a whole.

Mr Andy Kerr: The figures requested are not held centrally.

  Percentage of Scottish Executive expenditure allocated to higher and further education in cash terms since 1999.

  Total Scottish Executive expenditure and the amounts made available to the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the Scottish Further Education Council are contained in the Scottish Executive’s core accounts which can be found on the Scottish Executive’s website at www.scotland.gov.uk/publications. The amount of funding allocated to higher education institutes and further education institutes by the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council and the Scottish Further Education Council can be found in their annual reports. These are available on their websites at the following links:

  http://www.shefc.ac.uk

  http://www.sfefc.ac.uk

  Expenditure allocated to higher and further education as a percentage of education as a whole

  Education is also funded through local authorities and the vast majority of resources provided to local authorities for education are paid through revenue support grant, which is largely unhypothecated. Details of how much each authority has spent on education services can be found in the CIPFA Rating Review publications. The most recent year published for expenditure is 2001-02 (Bib. number 26652); the prior years are also available. A copy of the local government finance circulars and CIPFA publications can be obtained from the Parliament’s Reference Centre by quoting the relevant Bib. number.

Health

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to undertake a comprehensive study of the health of schoolchildren and what the reasons are for its position on this matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Executive has no plans to undertake a comprehensive study of the health of school children. The Scottish Executive already commissions the Scottish Health Survey and the Scottish Schools Adolescent Lifestyle and Substance Use Survey (SALSUS), both of which provide a wealth of information about the health of children and young people. A range of valuable information is also collected and available through the Child Health Information Team in the NHSScotland Information and Statistics Division and through the WHO Collaborative Cross-National Study on Health Behaviour in School-Age Children (HBSC).

Health

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to establish a resource centre in Glasgow for the care and counselling of those who habitually self harm by means of cutting and/or burning.

Mr Tom McCabe: This is an operational matter for NHS Greater Glasgow. However, I understand from the board that a range of services for people who self harm are in place. A liaison psychiatry and a self harm service was established in 2000. An adolescent service is also available and a children’s service is based at Yorkhill. NHS Greater Glasgow do not plan to open a resource centre specifically dealing with self harm since it is a symptom of a range of mental health problems and treatment will vary depending on the individual case. Following assessment and treatment, patients can be referred on to their local mental health resource centre where they can access a range of follow-up services.

  The board is developing proposals for a community network to ensure that all patients with a mental health problem receive appropriate support in the community. The Glasgow users network has a range of established fora to enable service users to become involved in the development of services.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS trusts comprise the 30% that do not have a validated nutritional screening tool, as referred to in Audit Scotland’s report Catering for Patients .

Malcolm Chisholm: Details of the report are a matter for Audit Scotland.

  The Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool (MUST) was launched on 19 November 2003 by the British Association for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (BAPEN). MUST is the first universal screening tool for all types of adult patients in all health care settings.

  NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHSQIS) issued new clinical standards for Food, Fluid and Nutritional Care in Scotland on 19 September 2003. The standards require that when a person is admitted to hospital an assessment, using a validated screening tool, is carried out. The new standards and the availability of the new tool will help ensure more effective screening in Scottish hospitals.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures will be taken to address malnutrition among hospital patients, in particular the 40% found to be either malnourished on admission or who became malnourished during their stay in hospital, as referred to in Audit Scotland’s report Catering for Patients .

Malcolm Chisholm: The new NHS Quality Improvement Scotland (NHSQIS) Standards on Food, Fluid and Nutritional Care in Hospitals (September 2003) require all patients to be screened on admission for the risk of malnutrition and that care plans are prepared which reflect their nutritional needs. NHSQIS will be monitoring the implementation of the standards and reporting on the performance of the NHS in due course.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS trusts comprise (a) the 68% who have not put in place targets for food wastage reduction and (b) the 44% who do not regularly monitor their wastage levels and what steps will be taken to introduce a 10% food wastage reduction target, as referred to in Audit Scotland’s report Catering for Patients .

Malcolm Chisholm: Details of the report are a matter for Audit Scotland. The Health Department will write to NHS boards and trusts requesting them to respond positively to the recommendations of the Audit Scotland report.

Legal Aid

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much legal aid expenditure was used in each of the last three years in order to provide independent assessment of fingerprinting evidence and what the estimate is for such expenditure in each of the next three years.

Cathy Jamieson: The Scottish Legal Aid Board does not collect this information and therefore it is not possible to provide figures for the last three years.

  As the cost of individual cases will depend entirely on the needs of each case, it is not possible to estimate such expenditure in future years.

Local Government Finance

Colin Fox (Lothians) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will cancel poll tax debts.

Tavish Scott: The treatment of outstanding community charge debts is a matter for local authorities, in line with their statutory obligations, and in consultation with their auditors as necessary.

Maternity Services

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how it will address the lack of a replacement consultant at the Caithness General Hospital maternity unit.

Malcolm Chisholm: The responsibility for the provision of maternity services in Wick lies with Highland NHS Board.

  Highland NHS Board should take account of national guidance on the provision of maternity services and involve the local population in decision-taking at an early stage. The quality and safety of the service provided will be a prime consideration for the board.

Maternity Services

Ms Sandra White (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much has been spent on publicity by Greater Glasgow NHS board in relation to the consultation process into the proposed closure of one of Glasgow’s three maternity hospitals.

Malcolm Chisholm: This is a matter for Greater Glasgow NHS Board.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many diagnosed cases there are of myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME).

Mr Tom McCabe: Exact information is not available centrally. Information from samples of GP records in practices across Scotland whose population is nationally representative suggests that approximately 7,200 patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis were seen by GPs in the year ended December 2002. However, this complex condition may be recorded in different ways by GPs, which might lead to some significant undercounting. The Executive’s Short Life Working Group, on the basis of published prevalence rates and population figures, estimated that at least 10,000 people in Scotland were likely to be affected by ME.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to develop a definitive diagnostic test to identify myalgic encephalomyelitis.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Executive does not carry out research directly but may support research carried out by the NHS or academic institutions. The Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Executive Health Department would be happy to consider good quality proposals for research into the diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis. These would be subject to committee review.

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many myalgic encephalomyelitis consultants are employed by each NHS board and whether this number is sufficient to meet the demand for services.

Malcolm Chisholm: The management of myalgic encephalomyelitis does not fall to a recognised medical specialty. As such, it is not possible to identify a specific number of consultants employed by each NHS board to treat this disease.

  Those clinicians who are involved in treating myalgic encephalomyelitis belong to a variety of disciplines and have gained their expertise by practical experience. Indeed, the best practice for the management of this disease requires a blend of different professional inputs, co-ordinated by the general practitioner and the primary healthcare team.

  NHS boards have been asked to consider what action could be taken in their areas to support the treatment of myalgic encephalomyelitis. Progress reports will be sought in early 2004.

National Health Service

Richard Lochhead (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many days have been lost in the NHS through staff sickness in each of the last three years and in the current year expressed also in terms of (a) hours per annum, (b) cost per annum and (c) the ratio of hours lost to the total number of employees in each NHS board area.

Malcolm Chisholm: This information is not available centrally. However, it is proposed to issue pilot data collected for the period 2000-01 to 2002-03 as part of the Occupational Health and Safety Minimum Dataset later this month or next which will show the total absence hours lost as a percentage of available hours for the following groups, Scotland, acute trusts, primary care trusts and NHS health boards.

Organ Donation

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it is taking to improve the availability of renal transplants.

Mr Tom McCabe: We are taking a number of steps in discussion with the Scottish Transplant Group. These include: encouraging live donation, the development of non-heartbeating donation; developing relevant clinical standards through NHS Quality Improvement Scotland; and using publicity to raise awareness of organ donation.

Organ Transplants

Dennis Canavan (Falkirk West): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to address inequalities in access to renal transplant waiting lists and transplantation as a result of the findings of the study published in volume 327 of the British Medical Journal.

Malcolm Chisholm: The Scottish Transplant Group was able to take account of the findings of this research when it published its Organ Donation Strategy for Scotland in July 2002. The results helped to underpin the group’s determination that there should be equity of access to all transplantation services.

  The high quality data collected by the Scottish Renal Registry enables the reasons for inequity of access to renal transplant waiting lists to be identified. These findings can then inform practice, such as the "Guidelines for the Assessment of Patients for Transplantation" recently introduced by UK Transplant, the British Transplantation Society and the Renal Association. The NHS Quality Improvement Scotland standards on renal services and diabetes will also help to address issues relating to equity of access to renal transplant waiting lists.

Planning

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how sites designated for their natural heritage are protected from wind farm development.

Ms Margaret Curran: National Planning Policy Guideline (NPPG) 14: Natural Heritage provides guidance on the approach to be adopted in relation to sites designated for their natural heritage. This guidance applies to all forms of development, including wind farms. NPPG 6: Renewable Energy Developments sets  out the relevant considerations within the renewable energy context.

Planning

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which sites designated for their natural heritage are currently subject to planning applications for wind farms.

Mary Mulligan: On the basis of information held on applications currently under consideration by planning authorities (planning applications) or Scottish ministers (section 36 applications), areas designated for their international or national natural heritage which are currently subject to applications for wind farms are as follows:

  

 International Designations



Special Protection Area

Arran Moors



Special Area of Conservation

None



Ramsar Sites

None


 National Designations



National Parks

None



National Scenic Areas

None



Sites of Special Scientific 
  Interest

Craig of Succoth



 

Portencross Coast



  Relevant information on local natural heritage designations is not readily available.

Prison Service

Nicola Sturgeon (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any officials from the Scottish Prison Service attended the International Corrections and Prisons Association conference in Miami, Florida, in October 2003; if so, what the cost of attendance was and whether any contribution to such costs was made by commercial prison companies.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS), to respond. His response is as follows:

  I and Ed Wozniak, Head of business and analytical services, represented SPS at the International Corrections and Prisons Association, of which we are national members, where I chaired part of the conference and Ed Wozniak delivered a paper. The costs of approximately £5,200 were met fully by SPS.

Public Private Partnerships

Ms Rosemary Byrne (South of Scotland) (SSP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with East Lothian Council regarding East Lothian public private partnership schools project.

Peter Peacock: Our role in all schools public private partnerships, including East Lothian’s, is to consider councils’ initial bids for financial support on the basis of outline business cases submitted, and, subsequently, to offer general advice and guidance as projects progress.

Radioactive Waste

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many sites specialise in the disposal of radioactive materials.

Ross Finnie: Authorisations for the disposal of radioactive waste are a regulatory matter for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. Details are not held centrally. I understand, however, that only two facilities in Scotland have been authorised as specialist facilities for the disposal of solid radioactive waste. Both are on the UKAEA Dounreay site, namely the Dounreay low level waste pits and the Dounreay intermediate level waste shaft.

Radioactive Waste

Roseanna Cunningham (Perth) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what testing procedures are employed, and at what cost, to ensure the safety of storage flasks used in the transportation of nuclear waste.

Lewis Macdonald: The transportation of nuclear waste is a reserved matter.

Rail Network

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the statement in The Scotsman on 3 December 2003 by a Scottish Executive spokeswoman that the Borders rail line is among its rail priorities and that "the money is in place to start these projects going" represents a firm commitment to provide its £110 million contribution required for the line.

Nicol Stephen: The Scottish Executive has provided over £2 million to support the work undertaken to progress the Borders railway project to its current stage. An announcement on the additional funding contribution to support the construction of the Borders railway will follow an assessment of the business case, which has now been submitted to the Executive by the project promoters.

Roads

Chris Ballance (South of Scotland) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive why the cost of the M74 extension has risen from £245 million in 2001 to between £375 and £500 million at present.

Nicol Stephen: The present estimate now takes account of inflation up to the completion of the scheme in 2008. It also includes an allowance for dealing with more extensive contamination along the route and increased land and compensation costs.

Roads

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has met trunk road operating companies and local authorities to ensure that pre-emptive action is taken to address severe winter conditions on roads.

Nicol Stephen: Under the terms of the trunk road maintenance contracts, the operating companies (OCs) are required to review and submit winter maintenance plans (WMPs) each year which detail resources and plans for delivering the required level of service on a route-by-route basis. The contract also requires OCs to consult with local authorities before submitting the WMPs.

  The Scottish Executive has discussed the co-ordination of winter maintenance services with the local authorities to provide as seamless a service as possible between trunk and local roads. It is for local authorities to plan winter maintenance on their own roads.

Roads

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures have been taken to mitigate noise pollution on the A737 due to increased traffic following its designation as a trunk road.

Nicol Stephen: No noise mitigation measures have been instigated as a consequence of increased traffic flow.

Roads

Alasdair Morgan (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-3416 by Nicol Stephen on 10 November 2003, whether the realignment scheme on the A95 between Gaich and Craggan will provide an underpass to allow for the extension of the Strathspey railway from Broomhill to Grantown.

Nicol Stephen: The current design for the improvement of the A95 between Gaich and Craggan includes an underpass to accommodate the proposed extension of the Strathspey Railway.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether plans for a road link from the M8 to Edinburgh Airport have been removed from structural plans for west Edinburgh and what the reasons are for the position on the matter.

Nicol Stephen: Both the Rural West Edinburgh Local Plan (which has not yet been adopted) and the West Edinburgh Planning Framework make provision for the safeguarding of options for possible new road accesses to the airport. The Executive currently has no plans regarding an access route from the M8 east of the M9 exit. Our priority is to invest in significant new public transport links to the airport.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget was of the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) in (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01 and how many staff have been employed by SCRO in each year since 1999, broken down by qualifications and skills.

Cathy Jamieson: The budget for each year was:

  


1999-2000

£5,224,999



2000-01

£5,600,000



  


At 31 March 1999

96



At 31 March 2000

116



At 31 March 2001

144



At 31 March 2002

165



At 31 March 2003

193.5



  Information about the qualifications and skills of each member of staff is not readily available in the form requested.

Scottish Criminal Record Office

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many signatories are required within the Scottish Criminal Record Office (SCRO) to confirm fingerprint evidence; what qualifications the signatories possess, and how often has evidence confirmed by signatories been rejected (a) internally within SCRO and (b) by an external agent.

Cathy Jamieson: Three signatures of authorised fingerprint experts are required for fingerprint identification – the expert who identifies the mark, followed by two separate fingerprint experts for verification. In certain cases a mark may have less than 16 points and in these identification by the quality assurance manager is also required.

  All signatories are qualified fingerprint experts authorised by Scottish ministers under section 280(5) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 as expert witnesses.

  We are aware of one case where identification has been rejected internally at SCRO and four cases where the identifications have been challenged by an external agent.

Social Services

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources have been provided to local authorities to allow them to implement the direct payments scheme in the Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Community Care and Health (Scotland) Act 2002 requires local authorities to offer eligible people direct payments to purchase their own services as an alternative to providing these services for them. Their cost is therefore expected to be met from within existing resources.

Social Services

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what guidance local authorities have been given with regard to how they are expected to meet direct payments from their current budget.

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what national guidance exists with regard to how individuals are assessed for eligibility for direct payments.

Mr Tom McCabe: The Scottish Executive issued Direct Payments Policy and Practice Guidance to local authorities and other professionals in June, under sections 12B and 12C of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

Social Services

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are currently in receipt of direct payments, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Tom McCabe: The latest figures, for 31 March 2003 are given in the table:

  Direct Payments by Local Authority, 31 March 2003

  


Direct Payments by Local Authority

Number 
  of Direct Payment Clients



Aberdeen City

11



Aberdeenshire

11



Angus

30



Argyll and Bute

0



Clackmannanshire

18



Dumfries and Galloway

27



Dundee City

0



East Ayrshire

17



East Dunbartonshire

0



East Lothian

7



East Renfrewshire

0



Edinburgh, City of

89



Eilean Siar

5



Falkirk

0



Fife

120



Glasgow City

15



Highland

43



Inverclyde

0



Midlothian

0



Moray

7



North Ayrshire

0



North Lanarkshire

11



Orkney Islands

1



Perth and Kinross

19



Renfrewshire

3



Scottish Borders

50



Shetland Islands

0



South Ayrshire

31



South Lanarkshire

0



Stirling

0



West Dunbartonshire

0



West Lothian

19



Scotland

534

Social Services

John Scott (Ayr) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people are on waiting lists for receipt of direct payments, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Tom McCabe: This information is not held centrally.

Telecommunications

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how the changes in telephone directory enquiry services have affected Scottish businesses.

Mr Jim Wallace: Telecoms regulation is reserved. It is currently undertaken by Oftel and, from later this month, by OFCOM. Oftel introduced the changes to directory enquiry services and a preliminary report on their effect is available on the regulator’s website. It is too early to assess the impact of these changes on Scottish businesses.

Vaccines

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether information relating to vaccines that have caused damage is routinely collected and what the reasons are for the position on this matter.

Malcolm Chisholm: Information on side-effects suspected to be associated with vaccines or medicinal products is routinely collected in the UK by the Committee on Safety of Medicines (CSM) and Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The system in place to collect such data is the Yellow Card Scheme. As well as data received through the Yellow Card Scheme, the CSM and MHRA also use other sources of information to monitor the safety of vaccines and medicines such as formal safety studies, the published medical literature, information from pharmaceutical companies and other regulatory authorities throughout the world.

  Rare side-effects associated with vaccines and medicines may not have been identified or characterised in pre-licensing clinical trials. That is why these systems are in place to monitor safety in routine clinical practice when much larger numbers of patients will be exposed to the vaccine or medicine.

Voluntary Sector

John Swinburne (Central Scotland) (SSCUP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has intervened, or plans to intervene, in the position of Help the Aged which is considering redundancies in its Scottish office and the withdrawal of certain services to senior citizens in Scotland.

Mr Tom McCabe: Help the Aged is an independent UK voluntary organisation and as such must make financial decisions in light of its business needs.

Water Charges

Mr Jamie Stone (Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what consideration it has given to a water charge relief system for small businesses in rural areas.

Ross Finnie: No consideration has been given. In the interest of all customers, it is important that Scottish Water focuses on the delivery of efficiencies which will keep future charges to the minimum required.

Young People

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking in response to Audit Scotland’s report Dealing with offending by young people - A follow-up report .

Cathy Jamieson: The Executive welcomes Audit Scotland’s report and accepts all its recommendations. We look to every agency to plan how to improve and deliver on their statutory duties with the extra resources we have allocated. I will be meeting with council leaders and chief executives in December to discuss how the report’s recommendations are taken forward.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether EMBT/RMJM have completed the services to be provided under their contract with the Scottish Parliament and, if not, what work remains to be completed, with particular reference to any design work.

Mr George Reid: The convener of the Holyrood Progress Group has informed me that EMBT/RMJM has not yet completed the contract for architectural services and continues to provide those services still required on a day to day basis. The architect is required to verify all work on site; to certify it complete, comment and approve trade contractor detail design drawings and resolution of complex interfaces, as well as carry out site inspections to determine that all the work undertaken meets the required specification. This will continue until practical completion of the building. Any outstanding design work relates to finalising detailed design issues within the remaining work packages in discussion with Bovis Lend Lease and the relevant contractors.

Holyrood Project

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the allegations reported in the Scottish Daily Mail on 1 December 2003 that a company that won a multi-million pound contract for the Holyrood Project has admitted funding a party for staff of the construction managers who are stated to have recommended the company for the contract should be investigated by the Auditor General.

Mr George Reid: : It is for the Auditor General for Scotland to decide which aspects of the Parliament building project should be audited. I can assure you that for the forthcoming audit, announced as part of the Fraser Inquiry, the auditors will have access to all relevant Parliament papers and personnel.

  The following questions were given holding answes:

  S2W-4434

  S2W-4454

  S2W-4455

  S2W-4463

  S2W-4471

  S2W-4476